Qingyang taught his son: the strong reigned supreme!

Six hundred li north of this bronze ore vein, rivers wound around unbroken stretches of ancient mountains, and small lakes lay nestled among the peaks.

A faint air of slaughter filled the ancient mountains, where tribal soldiers practiced their martial drills.

This was the homeland of the Inkstone Mountain Tribe, a tribe whose strength differed little from the Qingyang Clan's and which had been their neighbor for two thousand years. In fact, the Inkstone Mountain Tribe had been established even longer than Qingyang. Two thousand years ago, the Qingyang Clan had replaced the Lieshan Clan as the protector of ten thousand li of land.

Before that, the vast ten thousand li of land north of Qingyang had long been under the Inkstone Mountain Tribe's protection. No tribe in the Great Wilderness prospered forever. Even those ancient clans had their rises and falls, let alone the Inkstone Mountain Tribe.

Once the Qingyang Clan replaced the Lieshan Clan, the conflicts with the Inkstone Mountain Tribe shifted from the Lieshan Clan to the Qingyang Clan. Of course, although there was strife in the Great Wilderness, there were also established customary rules.

Moreover, this land also held the Ancient Land of La Mountain, where a regional lord dispatched from the ancestral land of the Human Race presided, overlooking the vast land and ruling over its many great tribes.

Among these rolling mountains lay a stretch of lakes and marshes. A hundred stone pillars supported a majestic, ancient hall standing above the water.

Against the lingering glow of sunset, a young man in green armor rode a Scale-Horned Horse into the ancient mountains, then headed toward the tribal hall.

"Yan Qingsong of the Yanyan Guard pays his respects to the clan chief!"

The Yanyan Guard was much like the Qingyang Clan's Qingyang Guard. Both were fighting forces the two great tribes had established to patrol their respective vast territories. Compared with the friction between ordinary tribespeople, it was the Yanyan Guard and Qingyang Guard who truly came to blows between the two tribes.

"Come in!" A voice soon sounded from the hall, and Yan Qingsong strode inside.

"Reporting to the clan chief: earlier, your subordinate received a blood-smoke signal released by our tribe's warriors. A purple copper deposit was discovered in the mountain buffer zone with the Qingyang Clan, six hundred li to the south. More than a dozen of our tribal soldiers were all killed. Your subordinate suspects the Qingyang Clan was responsible."

Not only the Inkstone Mountain clan chief but also an elder was in the hall. The elder spoke. "If Qingyang was responsible, how could a mere dozen or so tribal soldiers have released blood smoke to call for help? Was there anything else suspicious?"

"By the time your subordinate arrived, savage beasts had ravaged the soldiers' remains. It was difficult to find any other clues!"

"Clan chief, what should we do?" the elder asked again.

"Whether it was Qingyang is unimportant. Since it is a purple copper deposit, it belongs to our Yanshan Clan. That is what matters most!"

In the hall, a burly middle-aged man wearing a purple beast-hide robe spoke from the seat of honor. In his hand, he held a piece of ore that shone with purple-gold light.

"Since they killed our Yanshan tribal soldiers, they must have discovered the vein. They will certainly make a move next. For killing our Yanshan clansmen, they must pay the price."

"Have the commander of the Yanshan Guard send two hundred-man units to guard the vein. Apart from our Yanshan tribal soldiers, anyone from any other tribe who approaches the vein without permission is to be killed."

"Grand Elder, while the Yanshan Guard advances, gather some of our tribespeople and have the ore mined and transported back to the tribe as quickly as possible."

"Yes!"

The old man and Yan Qingsong hurried out of the hall. Soon, columns of blood smoke rose across the vast land south of the Inkstone Mountain Tribe.

Deep within the ancient, wild forests, figures stirred, heading toward the buffer zone along the border between Inkstone Mountain and the Qingyang Clan.

Meanwhile, Qingyang Huan, who had hidden in a cave to refine blood into his body, had already sprinted several hundred li, and his pace had slowed as well.

By now, he had realized that the Inkstone Mountain Tribe's expert had not pursued him. Still, the earlier slaughter had brought him some benefits. Pure blood Qi flowed into his bloodline, and he had already entered the third step of Body Casting. Next, he simply needed to spend time nurturing it!

With the setting sun before him, Qingyang Huan returned to the tribe. Crossing past the stone stele covered in cracks, he saw the scene within the Qingyang Mountain Range. Wisps of smoke curled upward throughout the mountains, and the aroma of meat spread through the range. He even heard some children crying.

Blood Qi clung to his whole body, and his beast-hide robe was somewhat tattered. The reek of blood drew the attention of all the tribespeople nearby who saw him return.

"Little brother!" His eldest brother, Qingyang Luan, soon rushed out from deep within the Qingyang Mountain Range and gave him a thorough once-over. Only after seeing that, despite the bloody smell surrounding him, he was not seriously hurt did he relax.

"Big brother, have Father and the Grand Elder come out of seclusion?" Qingyang Huan asked as he walked with his eldest brother.

"Father has already come out!"

This time, the two did not go to the tribal hall but returned to the central valley. Qingyang Huan had barely poked his head into the spacious stone house when a figure caught him by the ear.

"Mother!"

He had been about to dodge, but upon seeing who it was, he stayed still and let the woman hold his ear.

"Huan'er has grown up. He is a man of Qingyang. Without experiencing slaughter, how can he shoulder all of Qingyang?" A rough voice sounded behind the woman.

"Go back and clean yourself up first. Change into another beast-hide robe, then come back!"

Hearing Qingyang Jue's words, the woman released Qingyang Huan. Instead, she walked out of the stone house and soon carried a large Brocade Forest Bird toward the stone house next door.

"Did you encounter danger?" Only when Qingyang Huan returned after washing did Qingyang Jue, seated by the stone seat, ask.

"I did."

Qingyang Huan's words immediately made the burly man's expression tighten, and his gaze swept over him again. Only after a long while, once he saw that Qingyang Huan had no serious injuries, did the light in his eyes dim again.

"I killed a dozen or so Yanshan tribal soldiers!"

Naturally, he hid nothing from his own father and eldest brother.

"You killed a dozen or so Yanshan tribal soldiers? Then they're dead. As long as you're all right, little brother." His eldest brother, Qingyang Luan, casually chimed in. But the next instant, he shouted again, "You said you killed a dozen or so tribal soldiers from the Inkstone Mountain Tribe? Little brother, your strength!"

Well, Qingyang Luan's attention was focused on Qingyang Huan's strength, and Qingyang Jue's reaction was much the same.

Then Qingyang Huan told his father and eldest brother everything that had happened after he discovered the purple copper deposit.

Listening to Qingyang Huan's account, Qingyang Jue rose and gently patted his shoulder. "Boy, living in the Great Wilderness, how could you not kill?"

Qingyang Huan nodded and said somewhat urgently, "Father, I've already delayed for quite a while. That's a purple copper deposit! If we get there late, the Inkstone Mountain Tribe will snatch it away!"

Yet he saw his father walk around the stone table and sit back down in the stone chair, without the slightest sign of urgency.

"Come here. Sit down." Qingyang Jue beckoned to Qingyang Huan, motioning for him to sit.

"In this Great Wilderness, all good things belong to the strong. Even if the weak obtain them, they merely pass through their hands. The same holds true for this purple copper deposit that our Qingyang and Inkstone Mountain are fighting over!"

"Father..."

Seeing Qingyang Huan's expression, his eldest brother patted his shoulder. "Silly boy, the Grand Elder has advanced to the Spirit Seizing Realm!"

"The Grand Elder advanced!" Qingyang Huan cried out as well, excitement in his eyes. It was for no other reason than that, by advancing to the Spirit Seizing Realm, the Grand Elder now had a lifespan of three hundred years.

"Speaking of which, it's thanks to you, little brother. You obtained that thousand-year tree heart, restoring vitality to the Grand Elder's flesh and blood and allowing him to break through to the Spirit Seizing Realm in one stroke."

"Now you understand? This is the strength behind our Qingyang: two Spirit Seizing Realm experts. Even if Inkstone Mountain occupies the purple copper deposit now, and even sends tribespeople to mine it, so what? That even saves our Qingyang some trouble!"

At this point, Qingyang Jue slapped open the clay seal on a jar atop the stone table. The rich scent of blood wine spread through the air, and he lifted it straight to his mouth and poured it down.

After gulping down several mouthfuls, he finally looked toward Qingyang Huan and said, "Huan'er, do you understand now?"